TKAM #4

One day, I was reading. As I was drifting into the story I was reading, Scout and Jem emerged and asked a question that opened my eyes. They asked me “Why are you so old.” After I thought about it, I told them “I started late.” This brought me back to reality about how old I was. I thought to myself, what if it is already to late to educate my children. I knew that I needed to teach Jem and Scout as much as I could before I was gone so they could prepare for life. I started thinking about how ignorant I am, when Jem asked me to teach him how to shoot the air rifles. I simply rejected because I did not want to. I didn’t want them to learn like how I acquired my skills. I wanted to teach them instead of them teaching themselves. As I realized that Jem is getting older and older, I knew I had a job to do. I know Jem needed guidance if he was going to grow up with good morals. I tried to teach him that doesn’t cause harm unless you have to. I tried to educate them about the dangers of guns and mistakes. Although they think that if they don’t pull the trigger, nobody will get hurt. There are a million accidents waiting to happen.
One day, Calpurnia called me at my office and sounded startled. She told me that there was a mad dog coming down our street and it was Tim Johnson. I rushed there as fast as I could to make sure no one is hurt. As I came, I saw the sheriff Heck Tate there. I expected the sheriff to shoot because their job is to protect us. All he said was he hasn’t shot a gun in over 30 years. He seemed cantankerous, so I took control and I knew I had to shoot the dog. I aimed and just imagined me being peaceful. Nothing around me took a deep breath and said my prayers. I shot, this shot just felt right. By no surprise, I hit the dog straight on and he hit the ground faster than anyone could say wow.
I went over to check just incase he wasn’t dead. Jem and Scout wanted to follow me with them but I told them to stay. I quickly scurried over there to check if Tim Johnson was dead. I looked at him and saw his life. I knew he was just a dog that needed help. Now he is gone and he is in a happier place now. Mrs. Dubose later told me that she found some camellia buds of hers that were destroyed. At that point, I knew that Jem did it. I took the items and went home to ask Jem. Sure enough, Jem. I was so disappointed at myself because I knew I still haven’t taught Jem enough to learn the difference between right and wrong. He told me that he did it and he seemed like he wanted to be inconspicuous. He was later told by me to talk and apologize to Mrs. Dubose.
I was happy that Jem was punished for his act of evil. He had to work for Mrs. Dubose for a few days, which should teach him some morals. Jem working for Mrs. Dubose for one month certainly did gain her respect. Too bad that it didn’t last longer enough for Jem to notice. After Jem’s time was up, I got a call about Mrs. Dubose so I rushed over as fast as I could. I was there with her until her last heartbeat. Everyone was so sad after she died but knew she died gracefully and happily. Still when I was sad, I had to leave home for two weeks because the state legislature had an emergency.